Animal Kingdom gets bone scan on injured leg

Animal Kingdom won his first start in eight months on Feb. 18 (above) and was injured and forced out of the Dubai World Cup after a subsequent work.

Animal Kingdom was sent to Palm Beach Equine Medical Center on Tuesday to undergo a bone scan to determine the extent of the injury that has forced him out of the $10 million Dubai World Cup. Trainer Graham Motion said the results of the exam would probably not be available until late Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

Animal Kingdom, winner of the Kentucky Derby and second in the Preakness last year, came out of his workout at Palm Meadows on Sunday sore in the same leg he injured in the 2011 Belmont Stakes, prompting the decision by Motion and Team Valor International to pass the World Cup. Animal Kingdom missed the last half of 2011 after being found with a hairline fracture of the hock following his sixth-place finish in the Belmont. He underwent surgery in late June and returned to training in September. In his lone start since, Animal Kingdom won an allowance race on the Gulfstream turf on Feb. 18.

It is not known if the recent problem is related to his injury from last year.

Although Animal Kingdom will not be going to Dubai for the World Cup, his owner, Team Valor, and Motion are still going to make the trip with Lucky Chappy for the UAE Derby.

In a Tuesday tweet, Team Valor said, “Lucky Chappy is a ‘go’ for the U.A.E. Derby on March 31. Alan Garcia will retain the mount.”

Motion said on Tuesday that Lucky Chappy would have one more work this weekend at Palm Meadows before shipping on Tuesday.

Lucky Chappy, an Irish bred son of High Chaparral, is coming off a second-place finish, beaten a nose, in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields. He finished fourth in his 2-year-old finale in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.